The present invention is directed to a plastic closure and container package and to a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a plastic closure and container package that has a tamper-indicating feature between the closure skirt and the container finish
It is currently conventional practice in the art of plastic closure and container manufacture to provide a tamper-indicating feature on the closure skirt for engagement with the container finish to indicate that the closure has been removed from the container finish, and thus possible tampering with the closure and container package. U.S. Pat. No. Re 33,265,4,432,461, 5,650,113 and 5,947,311 are cited by way of example. In the manufacture of such packages, the plastic closure and the container are manufactured separately and transported separately to a packager or packaging location, where the container is filled with product and the closure is applied to the container. Separate transport of the closure and the container undesirably increases handling and inventory costs. It is therefore desirable, and a general object of the present invention, to provide a means and method whereby the closure may be assembled to the container prior to transport to the packaging location, thereby to reduce handling and inventory costs. However, it is important to ensure that the coacting tamper-indicating means on the closure and the container finish do not become engaged prior to filling the package, or the closure and/or the entire package must be scrapped.
Is it therefore an object of the present invention to provide a closure and container package in which the closure may be partially assembled to the container finish for transport to the packaging location for disassembly, filling and final assembly of the package by the packager. Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a closure and container package in which the closure is affirmatively held on the container finish in a partially assembled condition so as to prevent loosening and potential loss of the closure during transport to the packaging location. Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a closure and container package having tamper-indicating means as previously described, in which the closure may be partially assembled to the container finish for transport to the packaging location without engaging the tamper-indicating means on the closure and the container finish. Yet another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a closure and container package in which the closure is affirmatively but releasably locked to the container finish in a partially assembled position in which the tamper-indicating means are disengaged. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a closure, a container, and a method of making a closure and container package that fulfill one or more of the objects noted above.
A closure and container package in accordance with presently preferred embodiments of the invention includes a container having a finish with an external thread, and a closure having a base wall and a peripheral skirt with an internal thread for threadably engaging the external thread on the container finish. An internal rib on the skirt extends axially of the skirt between overlapping reaches of the internal thread for frictional engagement with the external thread on the container finish to retard rotation of the closure onto and off of the finish. In the preferred embodiments of the invention, there are diametrically opposed ribs on the internal surface of the peripheral skirt extending between overlapping reaches of the internal thread, with the ribs being of lesser radial thickness than the internal threads. A tamper-indicating band is coupled to the lower edge of the peripheral skirt by frangible bridges for engagement with a bead on the container finish. The closure may be partially applied to the container finish for transport to a packaging location, with the frangible band on the skirt spaced from the bead on the container, and with the closure held in position on the container finish by frictional engagement between the closure ribs and the external thread on the container finish. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the external thread on the container finish contains a recess, preferably diametrically opposed recesses, to form a detent locking arrangement for receipt of the internal ribs on the closure skirt. In this embodiment, the skirt is thus releasably locked in position partially assembled to the container finish during transport to the packaging location.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making a closure and container package by providing a container having a finish with an external thread and an external bead spaced from the thread, and a closure having a base wall, a peripheral skirt with an internal thread, a band frangibly coupled to the end of the skirt and a rib extending axially between adjacent overlapping reaches of the internal thread. The closure is partially applied to the container finish with the rib on the closure engaging the external thread on the container finish to hold the closure in position with the tamper-indicating band on the closure spaced from and disengaged from the bead on the container finish. The package is transported to a packager or a packaging facility, at which the partially applied closure is removed, the container is filled with product, and the closure is then fully applied to the container finish such that the tamper-indicating band on the closure operatively engages the bead on the container finish.